[Dalton] Armed with the knowledge that some 97 percent of consumers shop online before going into the store, Shaw’s Web Studio program offers dealers a soup-to-nuts service of building and maintaining an effective site that will ultimately drive store traffic.

But, according to Misty Hodge, director of digital platforms, the emphasis is on conveying to the dealer how easy and how important a website is. Hodge told FCW that with the many responsibilities facing retailers, Shaw hopes to help when it comes to their virtual storefront. “Dealers may never know how many consumers they lost by not having a website or one that inspires. But their competition will know.”

More than 60 percent of Shaw Web Studio’s dealers see an increase in net sales — almost half see more than a 25 percent increase, according to the manufacturer. Hodge added, “We cannot correlate increase in sales directly to their website, but the main point is that it is certainly indicative of good business practices. If they find and qualify you from your virtual storefront enough to visit your ‘brick and mortar’, you have made the ultimate impression you had hoped — inspired them to buy and to buy from you.”

The most necessary information on an effective website, according to Hodge, centers around three questions that the consumer wants answered: What do you sell? How can you help get that into my home? And, how can you help me afford it? “Answer those three questions real quick,” advised Hodge. “Then, what keeps them there? That is inspiration — to actually see and be inspired to want that in my home.”

Shaw also looks at how a particular dealer will want to speak to its market — Things locally that speak to what you would want to say about yourself. “The goal is to get them in your store and help them with that final purchase,” noted Hodge.

While there are numerous companies that can help dealers build their site, the difference that Shaw brings to site creation, according to Hodge, is deep knowledge of flooring and the flooring consumer. And that does make all the difference in the success of the site, she said.

By charging a small fee for the service, Shaw can sustain the model and continue to keep their digital presence on top of technology. Some of the technology upgrades made in the past year include launch free mobile, guaranteed SEO service, integrated social media and redesigned interactive product detailed pages. “The product detail pages have interactive rooms that allow you to carousel to see each style in many types of room settings to inspire the consumer,” noted Hodge.

In fact, Shaw will work with any dealer that is a partner with the company, not just those in the Shaw Flooring Network. Hodge said that the site is the dealer’s site and meant to be reflective of their business, including content from manufacturing competitors. “Once it’s launched, they have full control of the site. They can easily change content, add their own stuff. Our support is free — they can call anytime and we can make changes for you, add content.”

Shaw does provide, though, a content library from which the dealer can utilize on their site — things like trends wearability of products, cleaning. “The kinds of things consumers walk into the store and ask,” explained Hodge